BOSTON — Former University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Chancellor Jean MacCormack will take over as interim president of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, the institute announced on Thursday.

MacCormack takes over after the resignation of the institute’s current president, Andy Tarsy. Tarsy will assist the institute during a brief transition phase to ensure continuity of operations as staff prepares to move into its new building, according to a news release announcing the leadership change.

It stated MacCormack will begin her duties as interim president immediately.

MacCormack served as chancellor of UMass Dartmouth for 12 years, starting in September 1999 and ending in the 2011-12 school year. During her time at UMass Dartmouth, she was tasked with “overseeing a major transformation of the school that included growing enrollment to nearly 10,000 students, increasing research funding from $7 million to $26 million annually, attracting significantly higher private support and expanding facilities on campus and throughout the SouthCoast region,” according to the release.

She also oversaw the 2010 opening of the University of Massachusetts School of Law, the state’s first public law school. MacCormack served for 12 years in senior leadership positions at UMass Boston.

“I am honored to be joining the institute as it enters the next chapter in its journey to realize Sen. Kennedy’s dream of creating a center that will provide an unparalleled view into the workings of the Senate, and explore not only its past in shaping our democracy, but its future as well,” said MacCormack in the release. “There is a lot of work ahead of us, and I am eager to collaborate with the institute’s exceptional staff in the opening of the institute and in carrying out its mission.”

The institute’s Board of Directors thanked Tarsy in a statement, crediting him with helping “lead the efforts to complete the institute’s facility, which will be ready to be occupied by our staff at the end of the month."

“We ... look forward to working with Jean MacCormack as we now turn our attention to preparing for the public dedication and opening of the institute this spring,” the statement said.

The institute’s 68,000-square-foot facility, located at the University of Massachusetts Boston next to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, will open to the general public with a formal dedication in March 2015.

The institute is in the process of completing its search for an executive vice president and museum director and expects to announce the new director in September, according to the release.